The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has identified three urgent interventions needed to bridge the gap between Nigeria’s installed electricity capacity and the power actually delivered to consumers.
Speaking at the 2026 Energy Conference and Exhibition at the Landmark Centre in Lagos, TCN Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Engr. (Dr.) Sule Ahmed Abdulaziz, said Nigeria’s electricity challenge was not simply about generation capacity, which currently exceeds 13,000 megawatts.
He said the real challenge was ensuring that available power could be dispatched, transmitted reliably and sustained through a functional commercial market.
“Nigeria’s electricity challenge is not simply a question of how much generation capacity has been installed.
It is whether that capacity is available, can be dispatched, can be carried reliably through the network, and can be sustained by a functioning commercial market,” Abdulaziz said.
He identified the restoration of unavailable generation as the most significant near-term opportunity. According to him, this would require dependable gas supplies, predictable payments across the gas-to-power value chain and coordinated maintenance to reduce avoidable plant outages.
He also called for existing plans, including the Nigeria Integrated Resource Plan and the National Integrated Electricity Policy, to be converted into measurable increases in generation availability.
“Progress should be measured not by the number of plans produced, but by how much additional electricity becomes available to the grid and reaches consumers,” he said.
The second priority, Abdulaziz said, was removing transmission constraints that prevent available electricity from reaching homes and businesses.
Although TCN has a simulated wheeling capacity of approximately 8,700MW, he explained that actual evacuation depends on availability of transmission lines and transformers, system stability and the capacity of distribution companies to take off power.
He disclosed that TCN installed 82 power transformers between January 2024 and November 2025, adding about 8,500 megavolt-amperes (MVA) to the country’s transformation capacity.
The TCN chief said the company was also undertaking network reinforcement and rehabilitation, improving line and transformer availability, strengthening protection systems and expanding real-time monitoring through SCADA/EMS technology.
The third intervention, he said, was the repair of the electricity market’s commercial chain. He warned that technical improvements would not be sustainable without resolving payment shortfalls and other liquidity challenges.
He advocated credible metering and energy accounting, transparent settlement processes, stronger enforcement of market obligations and regulatory measures that make contracts and payments more predictable.
Abdulaziz proposed a focused 100-day implementation scorecard to track three outcomes: additional generation made available, electricity constrained by verified network bottlenecks and commercial actions required to sustain supply.
He said every action should have a designated lead institution, a deadline and a measurable result.
“The ranking is deliberate: first, unlock generation that is currently unavailable; second, remove network constraints that prevent available power reaching consumers; and third, repair the commercial arrangements that sustain both,” he said.
Abdulaziz reaffirmed TCN’s commitment to strengthening Nigeria’s transmission network, expanding transfer capacity and working more closely with generation and distribution companies.
The conference was attended by the Minister of Power, Mr. Joseph Tegbe; representatives of the Lagos State Government; energy-sector investors and operators; development partners; and other industry stakeholders.
